'They're spinning': Republicans, grappling with midterm anxiety, go negative

Source: Politico

05/04/2026 06:16 PM EDT


President Donald Trump on Monday gathered more than a hundred small business leaders at the White House to tout tax cuts included in his “Big Beautiful Bill.”. Some of his closest allies worry the president is wasting time. With gas prices approaching record levels and Trump’s approval rating hovering around 37 percent, it’s time for Republicans to go scorched earth on Democrats, GOP operatives insist.

And while Trump has never shied away from blaming the opposition, especially his predecessors, his tendency to deviate from his message — to talk about the new White House ballroom, the reflecting pool or the construction of his “victory arch” — is muddying the negative message allies insist the White House needs to sell heading into the fall.

“You tell people you voted for a tax cut, and they say, ‘That’s nice, that’s good.’ … But what they didn’t tell the voters was, by the way, every Democrat in the House and Senate voted to increase your taxes,” said Trump pollster John McLaughlin. “You’re going to see the Republicans getting more aggressive about the contrast with the Democrats, whether it’s implementing workfare this year, it’s rooting out corruption in food stamps and other things like Medicaid.”. The push comes as Republicans grow increasingly anxious about their midterm prospects.

Holding the House looks unlikely — even with a slew of Southern states redistricting following the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling. And their grip on the Senate appears tenuous. “Everybody is pretty realistic about the fact that holding the House is going to be extremely difficult,” said a person close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Every day the war goes on, every day gas prices hover around five bucks, it makes it less and less likely, and it’s already very unlikely.” That’s why there is a growing call to dial up the negative rhetoric even at the expense of touting some of the president’s signature accomplishments.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/04/gop-allies-warn-white-house-its-positive-economic-message-is-falling-flat-00905945

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Every damn day there is an avalanche of "negative" - violent threats, juvenile insults, lies and distortions. "Dial up" for them would mean going full-on racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and antisemitic, while going nuclear with their current xenophobia.